A roleplaying guild on Scarshield Legion (EU)
General description
Trolls have both elven and orc-like characteristics with their fierce tusks and long ears. Their long arms, strong legs, quick reflexes as well as their incredible agility and strength make them adept hunters.
Trolls have three fingers, and three toes with one protruding from the heel. Most trolls do not wear standard shoes or boots as they are simply more comfortable barefoot, however some do.
Trolls and their various subspecies are some of the tallest mortal races on Azeroth. Both males and females have a variety of tusk styles ranging from small to large, they also feature a wide range of wild hair styles. The three largest subspecies of troll are the dark trolls, ice trolls and the Zandalari trolls, whom on average are much larger than their kindred. There is another variant of troll – albeit not a subspecies – that far exceed the normal size range, these trolls are called dire trolls.
There is pronounced sexual dimorphism among trolls with females being shorter, more slender, and with smaller tusks than males. Thus one can assume that large tusks are seen as a masculine trait and shortness a feminine one.
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Lifespan
Trolls live shorter lives than many other races on azeroth. There are theories that it is their accelerated healing abilities that wear down their bodies prematurely. A troll reaches adulthood at roughly 17 years of age, middle age at 30. Beyond their forties they are considered old, and living past 65 is rare, aging past 70 virtually unknown. The exception to this are the zandalari, who can live for hundreds of years.
Regeneration
Although enough physical damage can kill them, all trolls possess incredible physical resilience and can regenerate grievous physical injuries at an astonishingly accelerated rate, giving them a large advantage in battle. All trolls are naturally able to regenerate lost limbs and organs thanks to their unique physiology. Trolls are capable of regenerating things such as; a crushed throat, a shattered jaw and evisceration during the heat of battle, allowing them to continue fighting. If an arrow punctures a part of a troll's body through and through, the wound will be regenerated in mere seconds if the arrow is removed. They can survive a stab through the neck and throat, even when their regeneration is slowed by a poison, something any other race than a troll would die to. The most dedicated troll drummers allow themselves to get flayed alive, to have their own skin used for the drum they play. It is thanks to their incredible natural regeneration that they survive the grueling ordeal. The best way to kill a troll is to cleanly decapitate them, otherwise they will most likely regenerate and come back for you.
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Trolls on an individual basis are capable of controlling their powerful regeneration. How this actually works is unknown, but a troll can make a conscious decision to leave a scar behind as a reminder of what has happened, indicating that generally their bodies regenerate scars. An example of this is Vol'jin, who after having been the victim of an attempted assassination decided to leave his throat and lung scarred, to remind him of the mistake to accept Garrosh's mission. The scar left upon his throat also left his voice altered, meaning if he wanted to, he could allow his body to regenerate fully so that he may regain his old voice.
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Troll children are taught about those cursed by the loa, unable to heal even flesh wounds, to instill the proper respect for their patron spirits. There is also type of poison that can almost completely stop a troll's regenerative abilities for upwards of a few weeks. Elemental fires can also temporarily prevent trolls from regenerating their wounds.
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There are tales in troll culture about those blessed by the loa that can regenerate nearly the entirety of their bodies. The tale of Vula'jin the Void speaks of how he regrew almost his entire body after standing in a pool of shadowflame.
Dire trolls
A small number of trolls are strikingly larger and more heavily muscled than the rest of their brethren, though there is no racial distinction between them and the rest of the troll race. A variety of reasons might be behind this unusual size and musculature. For example, they might have been altered alchemically or magically, or they might also simply have been born larger than average. Regardless of the day-to-day prejudices that these trolls must contend with from other races, dire trolls are not regarded as monstrous by other trolls.
Among the military of Zandalar are the elite dire trolls. These trolls are warriors who have perfected their arts, traded portions of their lives for the dark gift of brutal strength, and serve Zandalar as her greatest weapons of war. Long ago it was decided that the Zandalari dire trolls should always have a seat on the Zanchuli Council, to ensure that those specials needs of the elite warriors were met by the government, and to provide the wisdom of war to those councilors who may seldom see a battlefront. Dire trolls are short lived compared to other trolls.
Female dire trolls can be found within blood troll society. Aka'ali the Conqueror was a female Zandalari dire troll princess.
Unique features of different troll types
Zandalari
Their newest appearance has them standing upright with skin colors ranging from gray, black, green and blue, accompanied by glowing eyes in the color of yellow or blue.
Most Zandalari are seen with scale-like patches on various areas of their bodies, such as; feet, ankles, shins, thighs, waist, back, shoulders, chin, cheeks, brows, scalp, biceps, forearms and hands, locations appear to vary between individuals. However not all Zandalari have these patches, and retain a smoother appearance. The patches of scales most Zandalari have can also grow into spikes. It is unknown what they truly are, though it is possible that they are osteoderms, bony deposits that form scales, plates and even spikes. Many dinosaurs are known to have had osteoderms.
The Zandalari's third toe, or "heel toe", is less prominent on males than it is on on females. It is especially prominent on both male and female Zandalari dire trolls.
Many male Zandalari stand a head taller than an upright jungle troll on average, most even more. And even short males tend to be taller. Female Zandalari stand taller than male and female trolls from other subspecies, excluding ice trolls and dark trolls.
The Zandalari are considered the finest specimen of all troll tribes, with their royal stature and being the original species of troll. Some humans even called them the "elves of trolls", much to their immense offense. Their beauty and noble physical appearances were inherited by their descendants - the elves, explaining these races' typical beauty.
They also boast incredible strength, enough to lift other Zandalari with one hand.
Jungle trolls
Jungle trolls' bodies are covered in short, soft fur that causes the trolls to appear purple or gray, where the actual skin colour is closer to brown. Jungle trolls are also unusually lithe relative to most other troll subspecies with the exception of sand trolls.
Young jungle trolls are both agile and flexible, capable of doing backflips.
Forest trolls
Forest trolls are noted to be taller and more muscular on average than jungle and sand trolls, yet noticeably smaller than the Zandalari and ice trolls.
Due to a mutation that took place many millennia ago, the forest trolls' bodies can support plant life to a limited extent, considered by some to be a strong affinity for plant life. A thin layer of moss inevitably grows on the skin of forest trolls shortly after they are born and gives them their characteristic green coloring. Their bodies could also support other simple forms of vegetation, such as algae.
Some forest trolls have long, taloned fingers that are perfect for digging through rock and earth.
Frost trolls
Ice trolls have angular features, red eyes, and skin that ranges from blue to white and possess many different hair colours. They stand taller and much more muscular than most other trolls, rivaling the Zandalari in height.
A few green-skinned ice trolls have also been observed, but they are very rare, for such cases are matters of pigmentation alone (not plant growth, as with the forest trolls). Ice trolls typically have thick manes of hair.
The ice trolls of the Winterax tribe are unique in that they do not share the bulky physique of their cousins. Instead, they are scrawny, akin to jungle trolls, with pale white skin.
Sand trolls
Sand trolls have coarse, cracked skin tending toward brown and gold colors, (with some sand trolls being an orange-gold) bearing only a rough resemblance to their jungle troll ancestors. Sand trolls also have thinner manes of hair than their brethren. Unlike most other trolls, whose tusks are of an ivory color, the tusks of sand trolls vary between dark gray to black. Sand trolls have brown and striking blue eyes.
Dark trolls
Dark trolls are, as the name implies, dark skinned with hues ranging from black to vibrant purple. They can be up to 10 feet tall, making them one of the largest troll races. They are said to have yellow eyes that can catch the moonlight like a cat's.
Blood trolls
Blood trolls are a twisted version of a zandalari troll. They lack the scales completely and their skin ranges from a dark grey to pale white, as does their hair. Their eyes have turned completely black from their use of blood magic.
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